'SNL' Vet Jorma Taccone to Direct 'Spy Guys' for New Line (Exclusive)

5:41 PM PDT 9/20/2012 by Borys Kit

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New Line has picked up Spy Guys, an action-comedy pitch with Adam Sztykiel on board to write and Jorma Taccone, one of members of comedy troupe Lonely Island, is attached to direct.

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John Rickard and his New Line-based Rickard Pictures banner is producing along with Taccone and his Lonely Island cohorts, Akiva Schaffer and Andy Samberg.

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The logline, which crosses elements of Ocean’s Eleven, True Lies and Mission: Impossible through a comedy lens, centers on a CIA operative who, while attending a friend’s wedding in Europe, is framed and becomes an enemy of the state. Now on his own, he's forced to reveal his true identity to his average Joe buddies and enlists their help. When they aid his escape, they also become wanted, as accomplices, and they must go on the run together to clear their names.

Michael Disco and Sam Brown will oversee for New Line.

Rickard cut his teeth working for New Line as a co-producer on Final Destination 5, Horrible Bosses, Hall Pass and A Nightmare on Elm Street. He’s an exec producer on next summer’s Jack the Giant Killer and is developing a big-screen version of video game Rampage. Spy Guys is the second project he set up at New Line, after Redemption.

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Sztykiel honed his comedy chops working with Todd Phillips on Due Date, which starred Robert Downey Jr. and Zack Galifianakis, as well as this year’s Phillips-produced Project X. He also wrote the Patrick Demsey romantic comedy Made of Honor and has Replay, with Seth Gordon attached to direct, set up at Sony. He is repped by UTA and Kaplan Perrone and McKuin Frankel.

Taccone has co-written and co-directed dozens of shorts for SNL and made his feature directorial debut with MacGruber, the big-screen adaptation of the SNL skit starring Will Forte. He is repped by UTA, Mosaic and Ziffren Brittenham.